Kendrick Johnson-Complaint Filed About Missing Organs

It’s bad enough when a son is missing and later found dead. That is multiplied when police say it was an accident, but the body gives sign of a struggle and beating. When it’s discovered that internal organs were removed and replaced with newspaper, that’s enough to send any parent into numerous, emotional hoops — and demands for answers.

Kendrick Johnson rally

The “Who Killed K.J.” rally held today at the state Capitol of Georgia came a day after filing a complaint with the state about the handling of Kendrick’s body.

Kendrick Johnson

17 year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead in a rolled-up gym mat at his high school in Valdosta, Georgia, on January 11, 2013. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) conducted an autopsy and ruled the death accidental, but his family questioned the ruling and had his body exhumed for a second autopsy. It was the second autopsy where it was discovered that Kendrick’s organs were missing and his body cavity was filled with newspapers.

The family’s complaint was filed Tuesday with the Georgia Board of Funeral Service, which is a division of the secretary of state’s office.

The complaint alleges that funeral home director Antonio Harrington, of the Harrington Funeral Home, which embalmed Kendrick and handled the funeral arrangements and burial, never informed the family the organs were missing. GBI said it replaced all of the organs after the autopsy. In an October 4, 2013 letter that Harrington wrote to C.B. King Jr., the attorney representing Kendrick’s family, he wrote that Kendrick’s organs had been “destroyed” and “discarded … before the body was sent back to Valdosta,” where the funeral home took custody of the body.

The complaint concludes by alleging that Harrington engaged in fraud and “facilitated a coverup” that deprived pathologists of “the means by which to determine how he may have died.”

The Georgia Board of Funeral Service says all investigations are confidential, but after a formal hearing, several resolutions are possible: It can close the probe and take no action; it can issue a “letter of concern,” which won’t be made public; it can issue a public inspection report; or it can publicly or privately handle any violation with the funeral home.

In October 2013, Michael Moore, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, opened an investigation into Kendrick Johnson’s death.

This case has me tied in knots. Aside from the fact that this kid was SO strikingly beautiful, the whole thing is just horrible. I don’t understand it. Any of it. First of all, I don’t understand how or why something like this can happen. Then I can’t understand how it basically gets ignored. And finally, I can’t understand how it gets covered up and no one seems to do anything about it. Could a murder be ANY more obvious? Can a cover up be ANY more obvious? And WHY???!!!! What did this beautiful young man do to deserve this? And as a parent, if my child had been stuffed with newspaper, such an obvious disregard of respect, honestly, I don’t know if I could ever get over it. I hate the feeling of paralysis this kind of stuff gives me.

So much evidence has been destroyed. They may not ever find Kendrick’s killer because of that. With the federal investigation, maybe some focus will be on those who failed to properly preserve the evidence.

Xena, Thank you for keeping this case in front of us… As you say, this case probably can not be brought to trial, but regardless, the people involved need to be exposed and held up for the world to see what they have done… This cover up IMO was not so much to protect the individuals that killed Kendrick, as to protect the reputation of some one who while not directly involved in the murder, their involvement with both Kendrick and the murderer would cause a lot of embarrassment for someone with a lot of political power…

Xena, It disgusts me that we live in a nation that political power can subvert justice so easily and people turn a blind eye to it as it takes place… How many people even here on this site have taken the time to look at the total picture of what has and is taken place in Valdosta? If one were to actually look closely at the community and the county, they would realize that the “civil war” never took place in Lowndes County, and the slaves were never set free, the chains of slavery are still in place there. What is the current price for a young black male slave in that area? To many people there, that is the only loss to the community, the price of one young black slave… The white masters have sacrificed only a little because there are many others to take his place, at least that is their opinion… Well, perhaps some are willing to just sit idly by and allow this to continue in this nation, but I and many like me will not do so… it is time to force open the eyes of the nation and world and allow them to see the truth causing a demand for equality for all people of this nation to be realized… Justice in this case does not necessarily mean a conviction in a court of law! Justice can and will be served by exposing these people guilty in the cover up to the light of day, and removal of those people from places of power and control in the community and state… Justice will be served, perhaps not as many had wished, but it will come to pass regardless….

Xena, please forgive me for such a long rambling post, I only hope it makes a little sense. You made note of my research, and yes, I have done a lot, and still have a long ways to go, but the truth will come out and people in power will be exposed for what they are… For many of the people involved in this case, the loss of power will be worse than a prison sentence could ever be… it is only because of folks like you that keep moving forward against all odds, that this nation and the world will someday be the place where all people are equal…

it is time to force open the eyes of the nation and world and allow them to see the truth causing a demand for equality for all people of this nation to be realized…

Absolutely! When I read of Down Syndrome victims, people shot in the back, and those suffering with mental illness beaten to death in addition to others, and under color and claim of law, it becomes overwhelming at times.

Justice in this case does not necessarily mean a conviction in a court of law! Justice can and will be served by exposing these people guilty in the cover up to the light of day, and removal of those people from places of power and control in the community and state…

I saw that happen with Edward Hanrahan.

Xena, please forgive me for such a long rambling post, …

Nothing to forgive, and I don’t read the “rambling.” Whether it’s venting, discussion, or sharing, people are allowed.

it is only because of folks like you that keep moving forward against all odds, that this nation and the world will someday be the place where all people are equal…

Crazy, I thank you but the truth is, all I did was open a blog and write. It’s people like you and all others sharing here who motivate me. I may be the hands at times, but others are the mouth. You have the been the feet in this case too, walking through research. That’s what a “body” is.

January 16, 2014
Still no answer to what happened to Kendrick’s organs.

Harrington Funeral Home never informed the family the organs were missing, and the GBI said it replaced all of the organs after its autopsy, the complaint alleges.

Harrington initially said “one or two organs might be missing,” according to the complaint, but in an October 4 letter to the family’s attorney, C.B. King Jr., Harrington said the organs had been “destroyed” and “discarded … before the body was sent back to Valdosta,” where the funeral home took custody of the body.

A state probe into how Kendrick Johnson’s organs were removed from his body and replaced with newspaper has yielded few answers for the family of the Valdosta, Georgia, teen who was found dead in his high school gymnasium a year ago.

“No determination could be made whether the organs were transferred to the funeral establishment with the body,” the Georgia Board of Funeral Service concluded Thursday in a letter addressed to Johnson’s mother.